Today, we join the whole world in the 5th Year Commemoration of the March 11, 2011 M9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake or Tohoku Earthquake. We are confident that the affected people of Japan are on track towards their full recovery and rehabilitation.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) fully supports the implementation of Tsunami preparedness programs, at all levels, to raise the awareness of communities and individuals on this hazard.
We likewise support the observance of the “World Tsunami Awareness Day” every 5th day of November, annually, to heighten the global awareness on this hazard and possibly avert its potential effects and consequences.
The Great East Japan EQ has provided us valuable lessons learned on the critical importance of early warning system and dissemination, disaster preparedness, response and recovery and rehabilitation. It brought hard realities which we can reflect on, especially on the way we do development and the application of “building-back-better” principle. The adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in March 2015 paved the way for a more robust framework which will guide countries to implement DRR measures in the next 15 years.
This fifth year commemoration further highlighted the need to evaluate what remains to be done in order to realize our vision of “building disaster resilient communities towards sustainable development”.
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